Biography
Daniel Monks is an actor & filmmaker.
He was awarded Best Actor in a Play at the 2020 The Stage Debut Awards, as well as being nominated for Best West End Debut Performer. He was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Film at the 2018 Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, Best Lead Actor at the 2024 Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) Awards, Best Supporting Actor at the 2023 Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) Awards, and Best Male Actor in a Play at the 2018 Helpmann Awards & the 2018 Green Room Awards. He was a finalist for the 2017 Heath Ledger Scholarship and was nominated for Best Actor at the 2016 WA Screen Awards. In 2015, he won the Arts & Fashion Award at the NSW/ACT Young Achiever Awards, and he was awarded the Young Filmmaker of the Year at the 2014 WA Screen Awards. He won the Best Theatre Actor award at the 2019 Monsta Awards, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 Monsta Awards, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Play at the 2019 BAL Awards. He was named one of the Casting Guild of Australia's Rising Stars for 2020, and a Future Shaper by Time Out Sydney in 2021.
In 2026, he starred as Ser Manfred Dondarrion in the HBO Game of Thrones prequel series "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", and starred in the BBC series "Waiting for the Out".
In 2025, he played Brian Irvine in the Peacock series "All Her Fault", alongside Sarah Snook & Dakota Fanning, and played Orsino in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "Twelfth Night" at the Barbican in London.
In 2024, he played Nax in the Netflix series "Kaos", created by Charlie Covell, starring Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer and David Thewlis. He also played Trofimov on stage opposite Nina Hoss and Adeel Akhtar in Benedict Andrews' Donmar Warehouse production of "The Cherry Orchard", which had a 2025 transfer to NYC's St Ann's Warehouse.
In 2023, he starred in the Peter Farrelly comedy movie "Ricky Stanicky", alongside Zac Efron, John Cena & William H Macy, and the television series "Dead Hot", alongside Vivian Oparah & Dame Penelope Wilton.
In 2022, he played Konstantin on stage opposite Emilia Clarke & Indira Varma in Jamie Lloyd's West End production of "The Seagull".
In 2021, he played the lead in Timothy Despina Marshall's feature film "In The Room Where He Waits", and starred in Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" at the National Theatre, which was nominated for Best Play Revival at the 2022 Olivier Awards.
In 2020, he starred opposite Aisha Dee & Yerin Ha in the feature film "Sissy", which premiered at SXSW 2022 and was nominated for Best Film at the 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.
In 2019, he played the lead in "Teenage Dick" by Mike Lew at the Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by Michael Longhurst as part of his debut season as Artistic Director. He also starred in Sydney Theatre Company's production of "Lord of the Flies" alongside Mia Wasikowska & Eliza Scanlen, directed by Kip Williams. In 2019, he also guest starred in Sister Pictures & BBC One's "The Split" and BBC One's "Silent Witness".
In 2017, he starred in the title role in Malthouse Theatre's production of "The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man", directed by Matthew Lutton and written by Tom Wright. He also played the lead in the World Premiere of "Are We Awake?" at the Old Fitz Theatre, directed by Sean Hawkins and written by Charles O'Grady, which he reprised at the Kings Cross Theatre for Sydney Mardi Gras 2018. His previous stage work includes Felix Turner in Australian Marriage Equality's Staged Reading of "The Normal Heart" at the Darlinghurst Theatre in 2017, the title role in "Orpheus" with Lies, Lies & Propaganda and Suspicious Woman Productions in 2016, and The Kings Collective's "The Wonderful World of Dissocia" in 2015.
In 2016, he completed his first feature film "Pulse", which he wrote & edited, was the lead actor & one of the key producers. The film had its International Premiere at the Busan International Film Festival 2017, where it won the Flash Forward Busan Bank award - the first Australian film to ever do so. It also screened at the Sydney Film Festival 2017 as part of their Screenability program, was the Centrepiece film for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2017, and screened at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival 2018. It was selected as one of the "12 Best Queer Films of 2017" by SBS, and won the Best Australian Independent Film Peer Award at the Gold Coast Film Festival 2018.
His short films have screened around the world at more than 50 film festivals, including three at Palm Springs International ShortFest. His shorts have received such awards as the Jury Prize at the San Francisco International Short Film Festival and the Celluloid Casserole award for Best Short Film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
He was accepted into Screen NSW's inaugural Screenability internship program as a screenwriter, and co-wrote the short film "Bodies" with filmmaker Laura Nagy, which was funded by Screen NSW's Generator: Emerging Filmmaker's Fund. He was also granted Create NSW Screenability Short Film funding for his short film "Broken", which Daniel wrote, produced & acted in, and screened at the Sydney Film Festival 2018.
He is a graduate of the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS), & PAC Screen Workshops where he received the award for Consistent Excellence. He has trained as an actor with Elizabeth Kemp, Jeneffa Soldatic, Larry Moss, Benjamin Mathews & Lynette Sheldon, amongst others.
He played the title role in The Farm & co3's production of "Frank Enstein" in 2017, directed by Gavin Webber & Grayson Millwood, which premiered at Gold Coast's Bleach Festival 2017, and toured to Perth's State Theatre Centre WA. He also starred as one of the core lead cast-members on the children's television program "Go Happy Feet!", produced by Sandbox productions.
He was a recipient of an Amplify your Art grant through Accessible Arts in 2014, which enabled him to be mentored in dance by Philip Channells & Dance Integrated Australia. He is a performing artist with Murmuration Dance Theatre, and in 2015 began development on the "Bowerbirds" dance duet film with Dan Daw, directed & choreographed by Sarah-Vyne Vassallo. In 2016, he was invited by Accessible Arts to speak about his work & career at the Arts Activated conference.
In 2016, he became an Ambassador for the Starlight Children's Foundation, and in 2018 he was named the Ambassador for the "Evolution to Inclusion" Float at the 40th Sydney Mardi Gras Parade, for People with Disabilities Australia, Northcott, Cerebral Palsy Alliance & the National Disability Insurance Agency.
